Well Euro-fans Father Geek here with a report from Edgard in Paris on the opening day of THE FESTIVAL along with a look at the opening film, VATEL by Roland Joffe...

Hello... Edgard from Euro AICN here... there's a
famous expression here that says : "If you don't go to
Cannes, let Cannes go to you" (because you Cannes do
it... ah ah ah)... anyway, here's the first report
from Cannes we will propose you... not quite a report
FROM Cannes, but more a report about Cannes. You can
live in Paris and still take part in the Festival.

First, I watch the opening ceremony from home, on my
TV. Frustrating maybe, but still you are better seated
to see the stars walking up the famous steps of the
"Palais"... then Virginie Ledoyen, Luc Besson,
Jonathan Demme and others... Nice... Boring a bit, but
nice...

Then, I decided to see the opening film : VATEL... as
I am not as good story teller than Harry I won't talk
about travelling machines to do so, it's much more
simple, much more banal : VATEL was opening tonight
everywhere in France... at the same time that it was
shown in Cannes... so I just had to go to my multiplex
around 10.00 pm to catch it... no crowd, no stars, no
glamour... just my usual movie theatre...

So how was VATEL ? Well quite good actually...
especially if you like to "feed" your eyes with
beautiful images... of course it's not your average
blockbuster, it's just a story of... well... humanity
in an absurd time (but which time isn't absurd ??...
sorry it's late, I tend to be philosophical...). The
story follows François Vatel, "master of ceremony" of
the Prince of Condé, during a 3 days visit from the
King Louis XIV... For different reasons I will not
develop here, it's essential for the Prince of Condé
to please at any cost the King... that means Vatel
must elaborate somptuous meals and feasts to keep the
King happy and entertained. Of course, this is not an
easy task, especially in a time when hierarchy was so
important... All this becomes then a kind of human
chess game where everyone tries to take advantage of
others... Depardieu is Vatel, Uma Thurman is the love
interest stuck between Vatel, the King and Tim Roth,
as usually the bad guy...

The main thing about that movie is the way it appeals
to all your senses... your eyes first because the
feasts are really looking somptuous and beautiful,
then it makes you hungry because for 2 hours you keep
seeing food, food, food... (and good food)... then of
course it talks to your heart, as Vatel, the only
character with a real humanity, is confronted to many
absurdities... No wonder this movie opens the Festival
of Cannes, it talks about the same thing : a
superficial world where everything is about outrageous
parties, power, sex and lies (no videotape, it's the
17th century).

I always liked a lot the 3 first movies of Roland
Joffé (THE KILLING FIELDS, THE MISSION, FAT MAN AND
LITTLE BOY) but then... nothing... and with VATEL I
feel like he came back... (THE SCARLET LETTER was
probably his lowest point). The way he shows the two
first feasts in the garden of the castle is pure
beauty.

As for the actors, I am glad to find a Depardieu with
no excess (unlike ASTERIX or THE MAN WITH THE IRON
MASK)... he's really playing Vatel with calm and
humanity. Uma Thurman is beautiful and shows a lot
more talent than in two Warner crap movies I will not
name (a hint, one has Batman in the title, the other
has Avengers). And Tim Roth is as usual the bastard
you love to hate... he seems coming right from ROB ROY
(same stupid hair and clothes).

I know this will be a boring movie for many people...
I guess also that critics might complain about a very
thin story line... all I can say is that my own
opening ceremony of the Cannes Festival was really
looking good from Paris...

Edgard out, but just for a little while, Your Euro-AICN Cannes Crew will be back tomorrow with much more of the movie industry's most famous party.